Dear Owner,

I’m with you every day, I’ve never left you alone, I’ve never intentionally let you down. But, I have to tell you, as your ears, you’re really pissing me off. The stuff or “music,” that you have blaring in your car and on your iPod®, is a ridiculous; no one should have hear that. I’ve been with you from the beginning, and I think I deserve better. I deserve to hear something with melody and actual instruments, not that Max Headroom™ produced auto-tune that even makes you sound good on Garageband®. So please, do us a favor, don’t sell yourself short; go find actual music. It’s going to be hard, I know. You’ll have to look beyond the radio and past MTV, but you can do it. And hey, remember, I’m here for you man. Don’t let me down.

Sincerely,

Your Ears

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Hi there,

I run this hub, and like you I read the letter above, and I understand now what I have to do: I have to seek out music and not trust everything I hear. I get it now. I don't know about you, but I'm getting a little tired of being told what good music sounds like from people who don't even really like music. That's why I started this hub, not to tell you what to like or not to like, but what I think. You can agree or disagree, afterall it's just an opinion. After you've listened to the songs or albums, I would love to hear what you think, so that maybe we can get opinions from actual music lovers and not music promoters. What do you think? It could be fun. I hope to hear from you soon.

BDClough

1. "Buttons" by the Weeks
2. "Wishing Well" by Airborne Toxic Event
3. "Perhaps Vampires Is a Bit Strong But..." by the Arctic Monkeys
4. "The Funeral" by Band of Horses
5. "Everything's Not Lost" by Coldplay
6. "The Rake's Song" by the Decemberists
7. "Policy of Truth" by Depeche Mode
8. "Umbrella" by Dog's Eye View
9. "Pride and Joy" by Marvin Gaye
10. "Head Over Heels" by Tears For Fears

What I've Heard: Music Reviews:

It's official, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs have gone electronic. Never thought it would happen? Never wanted it to happen? Well, too bad. As in most pop songs today, and now increasingly more with rock songs, artists are turning toward the electronic-dance like beats to create their songs in order to make them more pleasing to the consumer’s ear, as it often provides a simple repetitious melody that catches your attention. This repetitious sound makes its way through your ear by rolling around in your mind, then forgetting how it got there, until finally it's stuck in your head and you can’t get it out. It is a definite revert back to the popular sound of the 80’s, where bands like Frankie Goes to Hollywood and New Order had a lot of success with their synthesized-electronic sound. Most of us saw the near death experience of that sound with the emergence of hair bands and speed metal, but it rallied back in the early 90's with the house music movement of bands like C&C Music Factory, Real McCoy, or those guys that sang “Cotton-Eyed Joe." We then thought we definitely saw its demise with the soaring popularity of Seattle-grunge, where bands like Nirvana, Pearl Jam, and Soundgarden decimated the concept of popular music. But, you cannot keep electronic down; out came the techno movement, which really was house music but with less singing and a grittier sound, this made it more underground, or in other words, made you cooler if you listened to it: “You like that song ‘I’m ‘Blue?' That song sucks. I like “Smack My Bitch Up” or anything by Crystal Method. Dude you’re lame.”

On the Yeah Yeah Yeahs new studio album It’s Blitz, they don’t quite capture house music nor electronic, their sound is closer to a hybrid of the two; industrial rock, which was made popular by bands like Nine Inch Nails. The Yeah Yeah Yeahs have always been a high energy punk rock band whose force is driven by the charisma and wailing voice of lead singer Karen O, so it should come as slight shock to fans when they hear the new industrial-synthesized sound the band has achieved on their new album. You may not hear heavy drum beats accompanied with fast-paced guitar as in “Date With the Night,” and you might not even hear the punk rock anthems you are accustomed to with the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, as in “Black Tongue” or “Gold Lion,” but if you listen closely, you will hear the reasons why you listen to the band in the first place. It’s Blitz is splattered with Karen O’s infectious Siouxsie and the Banchees style voice, and the carefully placed guitar rhythms that lure you in to their songs. If the strong electronic songs on the first half of the album are not on the top of your list, then be patient, because the last part of the album is dedicated to the band giving you an acoustic tribute to most of the songs you just heard, which makes you want to go back and start the CD over to figure out which parts of the songs you clearly missed. Electronic music may not be for you, but you’re going to have to give a try: everyone is doing it.

To be honest, I have never really got it about U2. I recognize their talent, and there are songs that I like a lot (“With or Without You,” “One,” “Sunday Bloody Sunday”), but I have never completely jumped on the U2 band wagon, so to speak. So when I listened to their new studio album No Line on the Horizon, I was not exactly sure what to expect. What I can say about it, is that if you are not a U2 fan, you might actually like this album. The even better news is that if you are already a fan, you will like it too.

With their latest album, U2 has continued to stray away from the pop dance sound they were going for in some of their previous albums (Pop, How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb), but kept some of the edger sounds that they have achieved since their early 90’s success; playing more with synthesizers and drum tempos. In only their fashion, U2 remains politically conscious, but also delves in to the boredom and need of relationships. Where there are times the album is lyrically weak; “restart and reboot yourself…password, you, enter here, right now” (“Unknown Caller”), it redeems with lines like, “pity the nation that will listen to your boys and girls / ’Cos the sweetest melody is the one we haven’t heard” (“I’ll go Crazy if I Don’t Go Crazy Tonight”). One thing that band hasn’t lost, is their signature U2 sound of Bono’s ardent melodies and Edge’s echoing solo guitar sound. What is refreshing about U2, whether you buy in to the hype or not, is that they are still relevant with each generation, especially in the pop/celebrity driven culture we are currently in. Any band that has been around for almost 30 years, can have a top album on Amazon.com, and be in the top albums on iTunes; whose customers are often among the youngest of consumers, definitely proves that these four formerly mullet dawning Irishmen know who they are as a band, and don't seem to care if others don't get it.

Buy It, Borrow It, or Sell It? Borrow it first; then buy it.

If you listen to Van Morrison’s Astral Weeks, you will get mad. You’ll be mad, because it will make you remember what made you like music in the first place, and how much of the music created today is designed to make you forget that. Astral Weeks has been considered to be Van Morrison’s greatest album, and according to Rolling Stone Magazine, one of the top albums of all time. Why? Because from listening to it once, you can tell what type of artist Van Morrison is, and how unique it is to hear an artist like him today; he knows where he wants to go with his music. For this album, while money may have been his goal, it didn’t appear to be on his mind. The reason we know this isn’t by what the album has, but by what the album lacks. There are no catchy hooks on the album or over produced sounds, a concept that seems alien to most listeners today. This album was created almost in the spirit of freestyle jazz, but with a Celtic-folk-rock sort of twist. Astral Weeks was released in November, 1968, but it might as well have been released this week, because the sounds of the album are so organic and connective, that it is almost like something you never heard; because chances are, unless you are listening to Van Morrison everyday, you haven’t, or at least you haven’t in awhile.

Buy It, Borrow It, or Sell It? Buy it: You should already have it.

Don’t be fooled by the first release off of Sheryl Crow’s Tuesday Night Music Club. “All I Wanna Do” is a great, catchy, fun song, but it’s track nine on the album. The first track is “Run, Baby, Run” which tells about a girl trying to run away from her relationships and life; a common thread throughout the album. It might seem odd that “All I Wanna Do” is on the album at all, but it actually fits perfectly. The album’s theme is about the struggle to get away and feeling trapped in your situation (“Leaving Las Vegas,” “Can’t Cry Anymore”), and “All I Wanna Do” is about being stuck in the same job, the hustle of life, and the want for something better; Crow just does a good job of candy-coating it. As said, don’t be fooled.